There comes a time in every website's life cycle where it could use a fresh coat of paint and possibly a shift in focus as to what's most important for the user. This could not have been more true for my Patreon website, which just launched earlier this year. I knew from the beginning that version 1.0 of the website was going to be a little rough in spots. After all, this was my first time creating a website focused solely around my Patreon campaign. It was new territory for me.

Fast-forward five months later and it was time for a change. The website was beginning to feel overly crowded and the layout lacked creativity in direction. So, what's new? And more importantly, why?

Exclusive vlogs are everything

Going to my new Patreon website, you will notice right away that users can conveniently access the newest exclusive vlogs from the homepage. I decided to go this direction because the vlogs are what seem to draw the most attention to my Patreon campaign. When I announced the vlogs a while back, I had no idea the kind of impact they would have.

Because of the vlogs' popularity, I naturally made the decision to feature them in the forefront. This decision alone will hopefully entice new patrons to jump onboard and begin enjoying the exclusive content that I publish weekly.

Grid all the things

Organization of content is always a top priority for me, which is why I decided to keep the grid in mind when coming up with a new layout. Most of the content is now organized in a grid-like fashion, which definitely plays well with responsiveness — particularly when browsing the website on mobile.

Creating around the grid has also allowed me to completely rethink the Patrons Showcase. Patrons' links of choice are now tightly constrained, allowing for more information to be displayed in and around a particular content module.

Patreon changed, so I also changed

Not too long ago, Patreon decided to completely rebrand their logo, colors, etc. Learn more here. My initial reaction wasn't exactly the most positive, but like anything in the world, I learned to accept the change and move on with life. And now? Well, I like it a lot — particularly the colors.

Of course, such a change called for refinements on my end. With Patreon's new brand guidelines in mind, I had to rethink the color scheme and how to best use it. Browsing the website, you should get a nice feel of the colors that are used throughout.

And finally, call-to-action

This change required me to upgrade my Squarespace hosting, but I am hoping the expense is worth it in the end. Once a user has been on the new Patreon website for a specific amount of time, a small pop-up banner will appear towards the bottom. The banner simply promotes the benefits of becoming a patron, all while not getting in the way.

At the time of this writing, the banner mentions the exclusive vlogs. But of course, this can be changed to anything in the future. Having the flexility to adjust it over time is certainly nice.

And there you have it. My new Patreon website is officially live. Please feel free to explore and find anything that may require feedback. You are always free to contact me here.

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